The 12th Bibliotheca Alexandrina (BA) Summer Festival, an annual event organised by the BA Arts Centre, ended its highly successful fun on 2 September. The month-long festival opened with two concerts (on 6 and 7 August) by Omar Khairat, accompanied by the BA Chamber Orchestra. Further days saw a busy line-up of well-known Egyptian independent musicians and bands performing at the Bibliotheca's open-air theatre (the Plaza). Bands such as the Egyptian Project, Shaware3na, Massar Egbari, Karakeeb, El Masrieen, Al-Tazawwoq along with musicians Mohamed Mohsen and Dina El-Wedidi were among the many artists who made an appearance. A special evening dubbed ‘Have Fan' (23 August) included four bands: Sout Fel Zahma, Nour Project, Wasla and Osama El Hadi. Sounds of Africa (30 August) featured a concert by High Dam and Meshwar. The festival also hosted the Cultural Palace Choir (31 August) and the BA Chamber Orchestra performing tangos and compositions from films and Hollywood musicals. Other highlights included cinema lectures and screenings of work by Egyptian women filmmakers. On the final day, singers Wagdi Francis, Sobhi Bidair, Sadek Gallini and Pino Phares, members of Egypt's renowned cover band of the 1960s and 1970 Les Petits Chats, were greeted by rows of listeners cheering, clapping and singing along as they enjoyed the songs of their youth. It was not surprising to see Omar Khairat's event fill the Great Hall with enthusiastic audiences, especially on the second evening. The large turnout was characteristic of the four weeks that followed, marking the Arts Centre's and this year festival's unprecedented success. The BA Great Hall has 1,685 seats while the plaza can accommodate up to 3,000 attendees. The most surprising and impressive fact for the BA was that during the many open-air concerts almost all of the plaza was filled. According to the numbers provided by the BA, ticket sales for this year's Summer Festival skyrocketed, exceeding 2,500 in the Cairokee, Massar Egbari and many other concerts. Mohamed Mohsen drew 2,000 listeners, and Dina El-Wedidi more than 1,500. Though local bands attracted the largest numbers, the general artistic commotion that took over the BA during August resulted in greater interest in the many other events as well. For instance, the BA Chamber Orchestra was rewarded with a large audience, compared with the sometimes low attendance for its shows over the past years. There was also excellent attendance at the cinema lectures. A few visits to the Arts Centre Facebook page reveals that some of the events attracted audiences from outside Alexandria; some visitors even came from outside Egypt to attend the concert by Les Petits Chats. Not only did the 12th annual festival offer a wide range of events, responding to a wide variety of tastes and generations, it also brought much-needed attention to this Mediterranean pearl. According to long-serving BA staff, this year's festival received the widest press coverage since the opening of the Arts Centre in 2002. Through the years, many artistic activities have been held within the BA's walls. But the January 2011 Revolution slowed or completely froze Arts Centre performances. The summers between 2011 and 2013 were marked by countless obstacles: the challenging political situation and the accompanying lack of security, which again led to the cancellation of several events. Shortly after the revolution, the Egyptian conductor and composer Sherif Mohie El Din, who for many years headed the centre, left his post. Though the vacancy was temporarily filled with a few competent people, the country's general political instability proved too challenging for the Arts Centre to kick off with a strong and steady season. Hisham Gabr, who became the Arts Centre director only three months before the 12th Summer Festival, accepted the post believing that he could infuse the centre with the necessary dynamism. The success of this year's festival shows that he was not mistaken. Gabr says that festival was a good opportunity to put the Bibliotheca Alexandrina on Egypt's cultural map. The list of activities for the centre's upcoming months is no less ambitious than that for the festival. More than 25 events are scheduled for each month, and shows diverse programming: film screenings, including the opening and closing of the Alexandria Film Festival, the Mediterranean Short Film Competition, the Fiction Film Forum, cinema lectures, concerts of Oriental, independent and classical music, a marionette performance by the BA Children's Theatre Group, plays, workshops for children and lectures, among others. Medhat Saleh will give his first concert at the BA on 13 September. Before the year ends, the Arts Centre's highlights include a concert by the internationally renowned Egyptian pianist Ramzi Yassa, who will be accompanied by the BA Chamber Orchestra. At the end of October, the celebrated Lebanese composer, singer and oud player Marcel Khalife will give two concerts, at the BA and Cairo's Al-Azhar Park. The same month will see Roby Lakatos, a well-known Romani violinist from Hungary accompanied by an equally acclaimed quartet from Poland. The Arts Centre is still discussing the possibility of hosting Les Miserables, staged in the Egyptian dialect by the Fabrica musical theatre troupe in November. Gabr says the year will still see appearances by regionally and internationally acclaimed artists whose names are yet to be announced.
